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Melissa Beilstein takes antiquing seriously. Where some dilettantes approach thrifting with a weekender�s nonchalance, she handles treasure hunting with the kind of calculated seriousness others reserve for strategic hobbies like card playing or fantasy football. She knows what she wants and where to find it.
�I grew up going to garage sales,� says Beilstein, 40. �My mom had a really good eye. She was picking before picking was a profession. It helped her make ends meet.�
Beilstein isn�t picking to pay the bills. She�s a cultivator, decorating her space one thrifted piece at a time. Unlike some collectors, however, she�s not decorating a Victorian mansion or even a vintage Chicago three-bedroom; she�s curating her decades of finds in the 600-square-foot loft she owns in the West Loop.
Beilstein had the original plans for her unit modified to turn her kitchen island into a peninsula. This left some extra real estate on the west side of the kitchen for a dining table. In the kitchen, Beilstein needed to add shelf space to accommodate her white porcelain dinnerware and her Le Creuset cast-iron pieces, so she added open IKEA shelving near the stove.
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